Gophers crushed the portal in 2023 but 2024 has been a complete flop

Minnesota has lost three starters in an offseason before three years in a row. In the 2023 offseason. Ta'Lon Cooper transferred to South Carolina, Jamison Battle left for Ohio State and Jaden Henley headed off to DePaul.

You could make an argument that Ben Johnson and his staff upgraded at all three positions in that cycle. Hawkins replaced Cooper, coming from Howard; Mike Mitchell Jr. transferred in from Pepperdine; and Christie was an instant-impact true freshman.

The 2024 cycle has been a different story.

PG: Elijah Hawkins to Lu'Cye Patterson

Hawkins was one of the best facilitators in the country last season, averaging 7.5 assists per game, which ranked third in college basketball. He also added 9.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game on 39.3/36.4/78.4 shooting splits. Replacing a player with his level of production was always going to be tough and Patterson has struggled to do so coming in from Charlotte.

Patterson is averaging 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 33.1/22.2/76.9 shooting splits.

Hawkins is averaging just 6.9 points this season, but he's also averaging 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals compared to Patterson providing little value on defense, including just 0.6 steals per game.

SF: Cam Christie to Femi Odukale

Christie was almost a day-one contributor last season as a true freshman, starting 26 of 33 games. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on incredibly efficient 40.3/39.1/79.1 shooting splits. Johnson and his staff were not expecting to lose him to the NBA after only one season, but their hand was forced.

After stops at Pitt, Seton Hall and New Mexico State, Odukale has struggled to replace the offensive production left behind by Christie. He's played strong defense, but he's averaging 4.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 36.4/11.8/40.0 shooting splits. Overall, he's been a negative impact on offense.

C: Pharrel Payne to Frank Mitchell

Payne began to find his rhythm last season in the Big Ten, averaging 10.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Minnesota brought in Mitchell, who was the second-leading rebounder in the country last season, but he's struggled to make the transition from Canisius to the Gophers.

An early season shoulder injury could've stunted his transition, but he's averaged 4.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game. The Gophers' lack of a secondary scorer in the frontcourt has put even more pressure on Dawson Garcia to carry their offensive output.